Her Second Chance
by Namine-Panda
Summary: I need to go!" She bolted away from the tale and as fast as she could ran around the corner. Thud! "Oh! Kinomoto-san! I am so sorry!" Great... just the person she didn't want to see at the moment. Rated for swearing mostly
1. Chapter 1

i've come to a realization:

no one can make me smile the way you do

-Amertie (Deviantart)

Chapter One:

MAY

Tomoeda:

"SAKURA-CHAN WAKE UP!!" Kero screeched in Kinomoto Sakura's ear. If she didn't wake up soon she would be late for school...again.

"Mmm hmm…. Just another minute, Kero," Sakura mumbled. She turned over away form the window where Kero had just opened and sighed. Kero gave up and sat down next to Sakura.

"Come on, Sakura, what's wrong?" Kero asked concerned. He flew over Sakura and tried to push her out but Sakura was too big. "Really now. You're over reacting."

Finally, Sakura got out of bed rubbing her eyes as she said, "He's not going to be there again…. I just know it. Syaoran's not going to be at school."

"Sakura, I don't know why you worry so much about that kid. He can take care of himself and you know that."

"Yea Yea. I know…" Sakura said as she put on her uniform. In the few months since Syaoran's return Sakura had grown her auburn hair out a few inches but it was still short. Sakura combed it out and pulled a little bit on the top of her head back. She tied her hair together with a pink ribbon, checked her refection in the mirror, and ran downstairs to where her brother and father sat at the kitchen table eating.

Sakura ran out the front door and was immediately caught by her brother Toya. "Don't you want to eat first?" Toya said as he grabbed her wrist. Toya has always been worriful of his sister and tried to do everything he could to make her happy but sometimes he goes overboard.

"Nah, I'm on cleaning duty at school this week and I'm already late so I really got to go. Bye, Toya-onii san!" Sakura said as she ran out of the yard and down the street.

By the time Sakura got to school she was panting. A girl with long dark hair ran up to her. In the girls hand was a video camera that she often had to videotape documentaries with… if you can call them documentaries. Most of these "documentaries" were videos of Sakura during her Card Captor days, but those were long gone and the girl's favorite subject was still Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!" the girl yelled happily as she wrapped her arms around Sakura. Daidouji Tomoyo let go after a few seconds and said, "Sorry but it doesn't look like Li-kun is going to be here today. I wonder if something is wrong. Well, he's probably just sick. Hey, I know we should go visit him today. You know after missing school for so long you would think Li-kun would get lonely."

"Yeah, sure. Good idea Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said.

"Huh? You're going to visit Syaoran-kun? Well, could you take his homework to him?" Chiharu asked. She had just happened to overhear what her two friends were talking about. "It will save me more time with all the work I'm doing around the school and all."

"Sure thing, Chiharu-chan," Sakura smiled. "Oh crap! I have to get going! Bye guys!" Sakura ran into the school and to her classroom where she had to clean. She put her stuff on her desk and turned around to the empty desk behind her and sighed.

**~*~**

"Okay, Let's go Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said.

"Yay! Finally something good I can videotape! Li-kun will be so happy to see we remembered him too," her eyes turned to stars. Tomoyo went on and on and on and blah blah blah blah blah.

Sakura and Tomoyo were walking down the street that they had so many times before to Syaoran's apartment. "I feel kind of bad we didn't come sooner. Poor Syaoran-kun must have been bored out of his mind," Sakura sighed.

"Yeah, well we all thought Li-kun would be back soon and after a few days, we kind of just thought he would come back the next day till two weeks had passed," Tomoyo tried to comfort Sakura without much success. Sakura just felt horrible that she had forgotten Syaoran.

Finally, the two girls reached Syaoran's apartment and Tomoyo knocked lightly on the door. They waited for a while and no one came. Tomoyo knocked again a little harder. They waited a bit longer and still no one came. Tomoyo continued to knock quite annoyingly hard.

It was strange for Syaoran not to notice that someone was at the door. "Maybe he's sleeping…" Sakura said not feeling too good at the moment. She moved up and began to bang on the door. "HEY SYAORAN! ARE YOU IN THERE!" She shouted.

"If you're looking for the boy he left a while ago," a man said. His hair was a shocking blonde and he was wearing a dark pinstripe suit.

"Oh…um, well, I guess we'll wait," Sakura told the man.

The man in the suit shook his head. "That's not what I mean. He left one night with a few bags and got in a taxi. I assumed he was leaving, didn't think he would go and not tell anyone, he has friends after all, seeing you two."

"What?" Tomoyo said with a puzzled expression.

"You mean Syaoran isn't here?" Sakura asked dumfounded. Surely Syaoran would tell her if he was going to leave wouldn't he? He did care about her right? "Do you think he might have gone back to Hong Kong?" Sakura asked Tomoyo. Tomoyo shrugged because to be honest she had no clue.

_What is going on with Li-kun? _Tomoyo thought. _Wouldn't he tell Sakura is he was leaving? After all, I thought they were inseparable._

"Uh, okay then, sorry to bother you," Sakura said fast. She walked briskly back down the road. When she was a block away with Tomoyo falling behind she stopped. "Tomoyo-chan, you don't think he really went back to Hong Kong do you?" She already knew the answer deep in her heart but she refused to acknowledge it.

"Sakura…" said Tomoyo.

"Well, never mind. He'll probably come back soon. He must miss his family a bit, you know," Sakura said trying to stay positive. "Uh… Tomoyo-chan it is late you probably have to go home, don't you…"

"I'll stay if you want me too. I'm sure okaa-san won't mind. I'll just call her up-" Tomoyo began.

"No you should go home. I'm tired anyway…. Bye Tomoyo-chan, see you tomorrow." Sakura said cutting Tomoyo off.

"Alright…" Tomoyo said. She bit her lip. Sakura was obviously depressed and she wanted to help. And no matter how much of a good scene this was she would never bring out her video camera at a time like this. She had more respect for Sakura than to do that. Tomoyo turned around and pulled out her cell phone. She called her driver to come pick her up: her mind was swirling around too much for her to notice where she was going anyway.

Sakura went inside and watched from the window until she saw Tomoyo get into her car and drive away. Sakura sighed and went up to her room.

"Sakura! You're back late! What took you so long, I'm hungry!" Kero continued to complain as Sakura went over to her bed and collapsed on it. "What's wrong?" Kero asked when he realized Sakura wasn't very happy.

"Nothing," she mumbled into her pillow. "I'm going to bed."

"What? But it is only 7:30," Kero complain. Finally he dropped it and laid down next to Sakura, who turned her face away from him. His stomach grumbled but he ignored it. _I'll eat more tomorrow,_ Kero thought as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Sakura meanwhile, stayed up till three in the morning till it really hit her. She would not see Li Syaoran again. Sakura sat up and stayed there for a while with wide eyes till she finally blinked, tears streaming from her eyes.

Things Will Get Better I Know It


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

A month earlier: Hong Kong

"We have a new student class. Please say hello to Yamashita Nariha. Let's all give a warm greeting to her!" the teacher said. The day was sweltering hot and the middle-aged woman's forehead was dotted in sweat. The class looked equally as miserable. It was a long day and the school was too cheap to turn on the air conditioning.

The girl on the other hand looked perfectly fine, like she had just walked out of a modeling studio- all prefect and beautiful. If it weren't for the uniform she might have actually been able to pull it off. Nariha smiled slightly at the teacher.

"Well, Miss Yamashita, you can have a seat in any of the open seats," the teacher continued. Nariha nodded and proceeded to a seat next to the window near the back of the class. She put her bag down next to her on the ground and looked out the window.

"Now students open our books to page 278 and read it silently," the teacher gasped. She sat back down at her desk and took out a fan and began to fan herself.

Meiling looked back at Nariha and saw her flipping through the pages of her textbook franticly trying to find the page. _She's really beautiful. I bet everyone here wants to be her friend now. I can just see all the boys dreaming of going out with her and the girls just want to hang out with her trying to steal some of her glory_, Meiling thought.

Nariha looked up at Meiling and smiled. She smiled back then retuned to her open book and began to read.

Who would guess reading one chapter in a textbook would take the entire class the whole morning class. That's what you get when your teacher makes you read a 30-page chapter with small print and large pages. By the time the bell rang the class stumbled out with tired eyes and hunched backs. That is everyone but Nariha who continued to look perfect throughout the entire class.

In the hall a boy ran up to Nariha and began to talk with her. "So… you're new right well if you need any help finding your next class you come to me okay?"

"Uh… alright?" Nariha said. She looked completely clueless and her eyebrows were raised in question. "But I doubt I'll have to because I already been to all my classes earlier this morning. A school worker walked me through and showed me all my classes." Nariha walked past the boy leaving him speechless.

About five minutes later another boy came up to her and asked her out. Nariha just replied, "N-No, I'd rather not get a boyfriend right now. I just want to settle in."

By lunch about six boys had asked her out and Nariha was getting really peeved. She looked around the courtyard at all the tables she could sit at. She saw a tabled with one girl sitting all alone and thought, _the girl from homeroom?_ Nariha walked over to Meiling and asked, "Uh… hi. Can I sit here?"

Meiling looked up shocked that the new girl wanted to sit with her. New students usually were invited to sit with the 'popular' kids, and Nariha was no exception. "Sure."

"Thanks. I'm Nariha"

"Li Meiling," she stated her name to Nariha so she wouldn't have to ask.

_Li!_

"Pleasure," Nariha said.

Just as Nariha sat down a girl with bouncy black hair skipped up and smiled an ear-to-ear grin. "Nariha! Hey, why don't you sit with us!" the girl bubbled indicating the tabled with a lot of girls and completely surrounded with boys all staring at the two.

"Gomenisai. I already asked to sit with Meiling-chan," Nariha said straight-faced.

"Huh? Well, uhh, maybe later then." The girl turned around and walked back to her tabled confused.

"Gomenisai? Are you Japanese?" Meiling asked when she came out of her daze. She sort of blurted it out and was extremely embarrassed at what she had said. She brought her hand over her mouth in and in an instant. This girl actually wanted to sit with her? The only other person who sat with her at school was Syaoran but he was in Tomoeda and was going to stay with Sakura forever. Most of the student here thought Meiling was stuck up because she was a Li and that's why she never sat with anyone- because she thought she was better than everyone, but to be honest it wasn't true.

"Yes! I was born there and lived there till I was seven. Then I moved to the United States and stayed there for a few years before I came here." Nariha continued to gush on and on about her family.

"Yamashita…. You're part of the prestigious Yamashita family…" Meiling mumbled.

"Oh! Yeah. So you've heard about us," Nariha said. In Hong Kong her family was not as popular as it was in Japan, but was still well known throughout the world.

"Yes. Who doesn't know the history of your family. They started one of the most well known banks over 10,000 years ago and helped keep the area of Japan from crummbling since it was so far off coast"

"Yeah, but our family isn't so well known of now. Besides, the Li's were never big fans of my family," Nariha laughed.

"Well, the families have gotten over such petty arguments once they realized how childish it was. Haha," Meiling said. It was true the Akane family (now the Yamashita family) and the Li family had many fights 300 years ago about magic power, but 300 years ago one person from each clan fell in love and married. The clans put aside their differences for the sake of the couple. They became accomplices with three powerful families to protect the world from the unseen evil sprits of the world. The ending of the story was rather sad though: for the couple died apart along with their accomplices, trying to defeat an unknown source or darkness. It is still unknown what it was as of today and if it even if it still existed.

Whether or not Nariha knew this story was unknown to Meiling, but Nariha seemed unaware of her clans past. Meiling thought she was safe for a while. "Oh! I forgot my point. I have a bunch of friends in Japan. They're all really incredible!" Meiling remembered.

"Really? Where do they live maybe I have been there before?" Nariha asked, intrigued.

"You probably haven't been there it is rather far from Tokyo, but they are from Tomoeda."

"Hmm. No, I've never heard of it…. It must be a great place though." Nariha said stars in her eyes.

"It really is. I made more friends there than I ever have there. Like Tomoyo-chan, Chiharu-chan, Takeshi-kun, Rika-chan, Naoko-chan, and Sakura-chan!"

_No way!_

"Tomoyo is a great fashion designer and comes up with some of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen. Then there is Chiharu who is going out with…," Meling went on for an incredibly long time while Nariha listened intently, deeply interested with what Meiling was saying about her friends in Tomoeda.

"You know Meiling, I want to become good friends!" Nariha said when Meiling was finished, her eyes were happy and her smile was genuine as she said this. Then another boy probably a year older came and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with a blank face. "Yes…?"

"Hey, you're the new girl right? Wow, you really are pretty," he complimented. Nariha continued to stare at him blankly. He brushed back his hair, which was in a ponytail. "Well, I was wondering if maybe you would want to go out with me sometime?" He waited while she thought about it. She scrunched up her eyebrows in frustration.

"Damn it! Why can't all of you just leave me alone!" Nariha shouted. She got up, fists clenched, and the boy backed up a step.

"Well, I just-" the boy was cut off when Nariha kicked him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain clutching his stomach. She walked away before she let herself do anything to dangerous to him saying, "God! And what's with the stupid ponytail."

Meiling sat there too shocked to say anything. _Wow…._ She got up and walked past the boy still on the ground and giggled a bit. Finding Nariha was not too hard considering she was just in the next hallway banging her head against a locker.

"Well, my first impression just got ruined," Nariha tried to smile but it faltered.

"Oh it's alright. I bet those guys were starting to bother you. They can kind of crowd around you a lot, right?" Meiling stated. "Truthfully their all just a bunch of perverts."

"Yeah…. Well, you should probably not hang out with me now that my reputation is tarnished as a boy hater," Nariha said.

"I don't care. Man, no one here even sat with me at lunch till you came along. I'm not giving up what could be my one last friend here," Meiling said.

Nariha looked up at Meiling and smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Two weeks later: Hong Kong

Meiling walked over to Nariha's desk and asked, "Hey, I heard another new student is coming. Let us pray that they're not a crazy psycho like you are Nariha," she teased.

"Aww…. But crazy psychos always make this place more fun."

The teacher came into the room and began to write down the lesson for the day. Once she finished she turned around to the class and began to say, "Okay class, I am not going through a formal introduction for our new student because most of you know him." The teacher acknowledged towards the door where a boy came in. His hair was chestnut brown and his eyes were penetrating amber. The boy's build was muscular and stunning. He was absolutely gorgeous in every way.

Nariha looked around at Meiling to see if she knew the handsome boy but Meiling was too shocked to notice, she was staring at the boy with wide eyes. Nariha turned back around and looked out the window. It was a nice day. The sun was shinning and was very comfortable outside.

"Mr. Li, please take any seat you want to," the teacher said. The boy nodded and took a seat in the back of the classroom. Meiling followed the boy with her eyes, her face set in confusion.

Rest of class was followed by a movie on whatever the class was learning at the moment. Nariha had no clue what the movie was on so she sat at her desk looking out the window while everyone else watched the movie or passed notes.

Finally, the bell rang and everyone went out for lunch. Nariha went over to Meiling's desk. They both went outside to a random tabled and sat down to eat. "So you know the new guy, huh?" There was a smirk on her face

"Kind of. I really didn't think he would come back here though. Ho-oy! Over here!" Meiling called as she waved at the new boy. He saw her and came to the tabled and sat.

"And… you are…?" Nariha asked clueless, she was a total loss of what to say. She was still confused at how Meiling knew the kid.

"Li Syaoran," he said very plainly.

Nariha's eyes widened for a moment then softened. "So you are related to Meiling?"

"Yeah. We are cousins," Meiling said matter-of-factly. "We used to be engaged a while ago but we had it canceled a while ago."

"Hmm? Why?"

"Well, Syaoran fell in love with someone and I wanted someone who will love me more than anyone else so we just decided it wasn't for us. Right?" Meiling continued.

"Hmm…. That's not what I remember" Syaoran said, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Haha. You've got to be kidding. How can you forget Sakura?" Meiling laughed. Syaoran still looked puzzled and she stopped short. She looked at Nariha who looked even more clueless than Syaoran.

_Crap! Nariha is going to suspect something!_ "Oh! You must have hit your head harder than I thought!" Meiling sweat-dropped.

"Huh?" both Nariha and Syaoran said in synchronization.

"Yeah! Don't you remember Syaoran… oh well I guess you don't. A few weeks ago I sort of pushed you down the stairs and you hit your head pretty hard. You must be suffering from amnesia." Meiling continued, "Hopefully you will be able to remember after you have more time to rest and get back to normal life!"

Both of them still sat there dumfounded.

That should hold them for awhile….

After a while, Nariha turned to Syaoran, "Ahh! I never introduced myself. I'm Yamashika Nariha. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah. You too."

**~*~**

Later, Meiling and Syaoran said goodbye to Nariha as they went separate ways home. She turned to face Syaoran.

"Seriously, what do you mean when you say you can't remember Sakura?"

"I don't know who that is…." Syaoran said. He scowled towards the sky that was turning dark. He was starting to think it might rain tonight.

"Really! Stop joking with me! Did you get in a fight?" Meiling was starting to get seriously concerned about her cousin. It felt like he was telling her the truth, but she didn't want to except it.

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about!" Syaoran retorted starting to get defensive.

"Really…?"

"Yes. Now come on it is going to rain soon so let's get home." Relief began to fill Syaoran as he saw that Meiling was going to drop the subject.

"When did you get here?" she asked half-heartedly.

"Yesterday."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She continued. Meiling was determined to get as much out of him as possible.

"It was early. But it was weird all of the sudden I woke up in Japan. I don't even remember how I got there in the first place." Syaoran really looked utterly clueless. He was still scowling, and Meiling remembered that before Syaoran met Sakura he hardly ever smiled, a scowl rarely left his face, and Syaoran hadn't smiled the whole day. Nothing but scowling the entire day.

It is almost like he never even met Sakura.

She continued to stare at him as if in a daze till they reached their homes. Meiling said goodbye walked into her house. In the living room her mother was sitting on the couch in front of the television watching the news. She saw the way her daughter was looking and said, "I take it you saw Syaoran today."

"Yeah…. Do you have any idea what's wrong with him?" Meiling turned to face her mother. They had exactly the same maroon eye color. Her mother shook her head slowly. Sighing Meiling turned around and walked up to her room. She looked around her room till she found a picture frame on her desk.

It was a picture of her and Syaoran with all their friends in Tomoeda. Meiling laughed when she saw how Syaoran's face was slightly flushed as Sakura wrapped her arms around his. Tomoyo, too, looked happy when she and Meiling had their arms on each other's shoulders for the picture. Chiharu was trying to smile but the truth was she was waiting to strangle Tamaki for lying about the history of the camera. Rika was off to the side with a shy smile playing on her lips. During which, Naoko was behind the scenes taking the picture. She would have to show this picture to Syaoran later and see if it sparked any memories.

"I don't just don't understand anymore…."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Hong Kong:

It was Saturday, and it had been two weeks since Syaoran's return to Hong Kong and he was acting the same, as he was when he first came back. Nariha had made it her own personal mission to help Syaoran get his memories back and they were starting to become good friends. Starting to get worried about her friends Meiling decided to call the only person who could enlighten her of the situation at the moment.

She punched in the numbers in her cell phone and brought it up to her ear. Waiting seemed to take forever and when she didn't pick up Meiling tired again. Finally, the person she wanted to talk to picked up. "Hello?" said a dull voice.

"Sakura?" Meiling asked. _Does she know Syaoran's here?_ "Are you okay?"

"Oh Meiling it's you. Yeah. I'm fine. How are things in Hong Kong?" Sakura said. She sounded totally exausted.

"That's why I'm calling. I wanted to tell you Syaoran's here. Do you know anything about that?" Meiling asked.

"So that's where he went. Tomoyo and me went there yesterday to check on him and he wasn't there. Do you know why he left without telling anyone?" Her voice was empty of all emotion what so ever.

_So calm!!_ "Well, he refuses to talk about Japan at all saying he doesn't remember anything about it at all…. Did you two get in a horrible fight or something?" _I'm starting to freak out here!_

"Hmm…. It has been a while so I can't remember clearly, but I don't think so." This phone call was leading nowhere much to Meiling's frustration. Something was wrong with Sakura and she knew it, but Sakura wouldn't tell her anyway if something was wrong.

"Well, I'm worried right now and you're the only one who can help me. Please tell me if you are forgetting anything!" Meiling said.

"MEILING!!!" a voice called from outside. She walked over to her window to see Nariha and Syaoran standing in the sidewalk. They were no longer in their uniforms like herself but in casual clothes. Nariha had a portion of her insanely dark red hair tied up with a ribbon. She also had on a bright yellow t-shirt and a black vest on, with dark denim short shorts on; she also had on a pair of gray knee-high socks, that looked eerily like their uniform socks. She wore a pair of blue-rimmed sunglasses on top of her head,serving no purpose what so ever, matching earrings, a black handbag and sneakers to complete her outfit. Don't forget the hand warmers. It was well known by now to both Meiling and Syaoran that Nariha loved wearing hand warmers, whether made of lace or of sweatband material she always had them. If only Meiling could look as perfect as Nariha did all the time. Syaoran on the other hand was wearing baggy jeans and a red t-shirt, with his hands in his pockets, scowling, once again.

Nariha smiled widely and waved up at her. "Why haven't you changed yet? We're leaving soon!" Nariha yelled.

"Crap!" Meiling muttered under her breath.

"Who is that?" Sakura asked.

"A friend of mine. I forgot that we are going out today…," Meiling said as she took off her uniform jacket and threw it on her bed. Nariha was getting impatient and went into Meiling's house while Syaoran stayed outside.

Nariha barged into the room. She went on complaining about how slow Meiling is and set out an outfit for her to wear. "Okay. Well I have to do some homework. I will talk to you later," Sakura said. There was a click and Meiling knew Sakura had hung up. Then, Nariha left the room and went back outside to where Syaoran still stood.

"What's taking her so long?"

"She was on the phone with God knows who, but she hung up. I picked out and outfit for her so she will be down soon." Nariha said.

Upstairs, Meiling looked at the outfit Nariha picked out for her. It was a shiny black tank top over another shiny tank top only this one was orange. Over the shirts there was a gray half sweater with a bunch of holes in it from the design, it had no sleeves either, God forbid, Meiling must never where sleeves. Nariha also had a pair of jeans set out along with an orange scarf covered in a bunch of colorful patterns. She put it on almost exactly as Nariha had set it out. Meiling took her hair out of her usual pigtail buns and combed it out. With her hair down Meiling looked like a completely different person, and Nariha loved it when Meiling took her hair out of the pigtails. She slipped on a pair of black flats, which Nariha had forgotten to set out and ran downstairs to grab her wallet and outside.

"Sorry. I was talking to a friend and lost track of time," Meiling gasped.

"No problem. At least you hurried when we got here," Nariha teased.

Annoyed from waiting for so long Syaoran said, "Are we going or what?"

He turned around and muttered something about the two girls that was inaudible.

"What was that Li-kun? I didn't here it," Nariha said. She always called Syaoran 'Li-kun' no matter what, even if he called her Nariha. It's not like she didn't like Syaoran, because she did but for some reason, she always felt for comfortable calling him by his last name.

The two girls began to follow Syaoran and started talking about who knows what, Nariha could talk super sonic fast at times and Syaoran had given up all hope of understanding what she was saying when Nariha was like this. Meiling though apparently could understand perfectly and she too would get into talking frenzies. He sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. He lost his train of thought and Nariha noticed that for once the scowl on his face had disappeared. She stopped talking for a moment and looked at him curiously. She walked closer to him and put her hands gently on his shoulders. He turned around and looked at her, Her smile was dazzling like always but any normal guy would freakout if Narhia snuck up on them like that, yet it would take much more than that to make Li Syaoran jump or even flinch.

"What are you thinking about?" Nariha asked.

"Huh? Nothing really…. Nice day," Syaoran said. He truthfully had no idea what it was that he had been thinking about up until Nariha came and began talking.

"Yeah, it is," Meiling said as she caught up with them. She was beginning to get suspicious of her friend and cousin since they where always so nice around each other. Nariha had always said she never wanted a boyfriend but the way she acted towards Syaoran was different than other boys.

Nariha sighed and moved back from Syaoran. Meiling took a few steps back as well so that they could talk more.

"So what's is going on between you and Syaoran, Nariha?" Meiling blurted it out without thinking leaving Nariha speechless.

"Absolutely nothing. I am not interested in anyone here at the moment, in fact I already have a boyfriend who cares and loves me more than anyone else in the world. So that is how it is. We are friends, and Syaoran thinks the same thing too," Nariha said a little offended by Meiling's question.

"Oh well it is just that you two spend a lot of time together outside of class…. I couldn't help but think… uh never mind," Meiling said embarrassed. She looked down at her shoes.

Nariha had a very serene look on her face as she looked at the cloudless, blue sky. "I was just wondering… uh forgive me if you don't want to answer, but was that Sakura girl Syaoran's girlfriend?" she continued to look at the sky very calm.

"Oh! Well not really. I just know Syaoran was pretty crazy about her a few years ago," Meiling replied.

"I see. It is kind of sad that Syaoran forgot about her. She must be devastated…," Nariha said. Her expression told Meiling that she truly felt bad. "Why hasn't she come to see him yet?"

"Uh…. I think that they got in a fight before Syaoran got hit in the head with a frying pan." Meiling couldn't remember what story she had given about Syaoran's memory loss before so she came up with one that sounded right to her.

Nariha looked confused, still looking up. She realized Meilings mistake with the stories and laughed in her mind. "Oh…."

They stopped at the closest bus stop, four blocks from Meilings house. It was a total of a seven minute wait for the bus and soon they where standing in front of the mall. Nariha ran ahead of Syaoran and Meiling and into the mall. She sat on a bench till Meiling and Syaoran slowly made their way to her. Smiling, Nariha walked into the first store she thought she could find something in. Flicking through racks filled with hanging clothes, Nariha said, "Meiling don't tell anyone what I said today. Okay?"

"Sure." Meiling said confused. Was she seeing things or were Nariha's cheeks slightly pink? She shook away the thought and found some things she wanted to try on so she went to the fitting rooms.

**~*~**

Tomoeda:

"So I talked to Meiling last night…." Sakura began.

"WHAT!" Tomoyo yelled. "What did she say? Anything about Li-kun?" Tomoyo was frantic when it came to her best friends happiness, and she could tell Sakura was upset. Sakura's eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep and her eyes were always a little bloodshot and swollen.

"Well, it seems that he did go back to Hong Kong and he can't remember anything about Tomoeda or any of us." Sakura was very straightforward with her friend. She tried to keep her composure but she could feel tears starting to well in her eyes. It was sleepless night yesterday crying over Syaoran but it was not going to help her now.

"Oh Sakura…." Tomoyo looked at her with sad eyes and was filled with remorse for her heart-broken friend. Tears bursting from her eyes, Sakura began to sob on Tomoyo's desk. Trying to comfort Sakura was a hard task and even when all of her friends came to help Sakura's tears did not stop.

"What's wrong with Sakura?" Chiharu asked Tomoyo, when she, Rika, and Naoko walked up.

"I'll talk to you guys later. Can you help me comfort Sakura now?" Tomoyo asked desperately. They all nodded and began to say comforting words like over and over again. "It will be alright, Sakura. Come on cheer up. You can tell us what's wrong."

Finally, with red eyes Sakura stood up and tried to smile. "I'm okay now, really." She wiped her eyes and took her seat, careful not to look at the empty seat behind her, fearing she might break down again.

Other students began to file into the classroom, and Sakura's friends took their seats as their teacher, Terada-sensei, came in. He asked for the students to take their seats and then went on to tell the class that they were going to watch a movie today. Chiharu took this as the perfect opportunity to find out what was wrong with Sakura. She took out her notebook and wrote down a note and passed it to Tomoyo who was in the seat right across from her.

_Tell me what's up._

Tomoyo read the note and scribbled in a reply quickly before handing the note back to Chiharu.

_Li went back to Hong Kong with out telling anyone._

_WHY?_

_I don't know. All Sakura told me was that Meiling called her last night to tell her that and how Li hasn't said anything about Tomoeda or even why he left._

_I see why Sakura would be upset then._

_Yes. She has been like this ever since we found out that Li wasn't in Tomoeda anymore._

_When was that?_

_Two days ago._

Chiharu was shocked at the news and then handed the note to Naoko to read so she could catch up. Naoko read the note and then turned around to look at Chiharu with wide eyes. Chiharu nodded and then made a hand gesture to tell Naoko to pass the note onto Rika. Naoko did as she was told, and Rika seemed just as surprised as Naoko. They all stared at Sakura who was trying hard to pay attention to the movie.

At lunch, the girls tried to talk about current events to get something out of Sakura. Sakura didn't say anything except for the occasional 'mmm hmm's' and nods. Tomoyo sighed and placed her head in her hands.

Over the weeks Sakura gradually became more like her old self, but it was two months before Sakura gave a smile to Tomoyo that did not have to be forced.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

AUGUST

Hong Kong:

"I have been thinking for a long while now and I have realized I want to go to Tomoeda," Nariha stated one after noon. The trio was walking home like they did every day. Her hair, up in a pony-tail today swayed from side to side as she walked She rolled up the sleeves on her white uniform shirt- she never wore a jacket.

"To- Tomoeda? But why?" Meiling asked curiously.

"Well you have told me so much about how wonderful it is so I thought I should experience a more private life. You know?" Nariha said. She had stars in her eyes and Meiling sweat-dropped.

"Uhh…."

"I was hoping you and Li-kun would come with me as well," Nariha said. Syaoran lifted his head from his book when he heard Nariha acknowledge him.

"Huh?"

"I will buy you guys tickets as long as you come," Nariha continued.

"That's awfully nice but we can buy our own tickets," Meiling cut in.

"So you will come!" Nariha continued to do an odd dance that consisted of many jumps in front of the cousins.

"Uhh…." Meiling sweat-dropped again.

"Please. I don't want to go there all alone and _I'm_ going there," Nariha said.

"Fine. We will go with you," Nariha looked up to see Syaoran reply this time instead of Meiling. He had a bored look on his face and seemed to only be partly listening to what Nariha and Meiling were arguing.

"Yay! Thank you Li-kun!" Nariha clasped her hands together then threw her arms around Syaoran. Meiling still had her suspicions about her two friends relationship but they were acting the same as usual. Nariha let go of Syaoran quickly and continued to smile. Something about her smile seemed off though. It was always like that lately though so no one could tell it was forced.

"If I am going to Tomoeda then I can see my friends again!" Meiling realized.

"That's the plan. I want to see what kind of other people Meiling-chan is friends with. See if they're as psycho as me!" Nairha said.

"Nah. Most of my friends are normal compared to you, I guess. None of them beat up guys who just call them pretty and ask them out… well except Chiharu-chan who strangles Takashi-kun a lot," Meiling muttered under her breath. "But that is a whole other story and completely irrelevant!" Nariha was laughing from behind her hand when she saw Meiling get protective for her friend.

"Very sweet, Meiling-chan! You see this is why I want to meet them so bad because you seem to care a lot about them!" Nariha said as she lowered her hand away from her mouth, a smile playing on her lips. Syaoran had gotten bored with his friends conversation and went back to the book he was reading. Nariha looked down at her lap and her face looked somewhat sad. Both Meiling and Syaoran noticed it but didn't say anything. She had been doing that a lot. It was more frequently now then it was when Nariha first arrived in Hong Kong but there was nothing they could do about it, because whenever they asked if something was wrong she would make up something to fool them. Nariha shook her head making her mid-back length hair flow around her then looked up.

"Well anyway, I really just wanted to make sure you guys would come with me. I will take care of housing arrangements if you wish."

"Oh! Well don't do anything about that. You see we have an apartment down in Tomoeda our family still hasn't gotten rid of, so if you get tickets we can provide shelter. Haha," Meiling said.

"Ahh! Umm… w-well that's not necessary…." Narhia stammered.

"Yes it is if we are going to be in Tomoeda there aren't many good hotels so you will stay with us. Got it!" Meiling said, a determined look in her eyes.

"A-Alright! Then it is settled we are going in two weeks then!" Nariha reached into her backpack and pulled out an envelope with the tickets in it and threw it at Meiling who missed it. It flew over to the left, closer to where Syaoran was sitting. He caught it and opened the envelope to make sure everything was in there. He then pocketed it and went back to reading.

"You already bought the tickets?" Meiling sweat dropped. She felt like she was wrapped around Nariha finger.

"Mmm hmm. I look forward to seeing what Tomoeda is like," Nariha said, and with that she turned around and walked away. She seemed to realize something and turned back around to talk to the two. "Hey are you guys coming or what? You know class has been out for ages."

"Oh!" Meiling gasped. She looked back at Syaoran who had hurriedly packed his bag and was following Nariha. Meiling grabbed her backpack and chased after them.

She came just in time to hear Nariha begin to ask Syaoran something. "So you really can't recall anything about Tomoeda?"

"Nariha, we have been through this before. Is that why you want to drag me there so much?" Syaoran asked irritated.

"Yes! I am determined to help get your memory back, that's why I am making you come with me. Maybe seeing familiar things will hit a nerve somewhere in you," Nariha said.

"Well I doubt it will work because if it has taken this long already to not remember a single thing then why should it work after going to one place?" Syaoran retorted. He was under a lot of stress from school, his mother, and his sisters; he didn't need all the crap Nariha was giving him as well.

"You are unbelievable Li-kun! Why can't you at least try? You lost a whole part of your life! Don't you want that back!"? Nariha yelled.

By now Meiling had caught up with them. Her eyes widened in surprise- she had never seen Nariha loose it like _this_ before. Sure she had blown up for other reasons but now was completely different. She was really taking consideration for Syaoran and what he had missed in his life.

"My God! You are unbelievable!" Nariha yelled at him. She turned away and tried to go ahead.

Syaoran had enough and grabbed her arm to turn her around. "You have no right to be saying that do you? You can remember everything you did and I can't so what right do you have to criticize me for this! It is inevitable! I won't remember! Ever!"

Nariha shook her arm away and began to walk ahead. She kept quiet the entire way back to her house. Then she went into her house and slammed the door.

"What was all that about?" Meiling asked.

"Nothing really. Nariha is just getting into other people's business like always. She knows stuff that I don't and I pisses me off sometimes," Syaoran said. His eyebrows where twitching in annoyance.

"What is going on? This fight had better not last for a long time or I'll be ticked!" Meiling said. They continued down the street and back to their own extravagant houses. All of the Li clan had extremely beautiful houses. They also all lived on the same street and back yards connected. There were even smaller places in the back yards like training spaces, meditation rooms, guesthouses, and other homes for clan members.

Syaoran knew that Nariha felt bad for everything she had said, but he knew she was right. He hadn't been doing anything because he thought it was a lost cause. Nariha was just wanted to help out. _I will try to get my memories back. Just don't freak out at me again, because I want them back._

"I know that you won't apologize but maybe you should just be nice to her tomorrow. Got it?" Meiling said.

"Yeah. Yeah." Syaoran looked up at the sky and smiled like it was a joke.

~*~

Walking into the classroom the next week Nariha said, "Hey." She seemed to be acting fine, Meiling noted, but there were dark shadows under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days. Nariha probably didn't sleep the entire weekend but no one really knew what she did or what she was up to.

"Morning!" Meiling said trying to lighten Nariha's mood. "So we are going to Japan next weekend right? You will have to help me pack, okay? Because you always have the most amazing clothes!"

"Uhh… yeah. I'll do that. Just call me when you want me to come over and I'll be there straight away," Nariha said trying to smile.

Shooting a look at Syaoran, Meiling turned back to Nariha and continued to talk. Nariha's strange out-of-it behavior continued all throughout the morning classes and by lunch she still hadn't changed. Meiling continued to give poor Syaoran nasty looks and finally he couldn't take it. He got up and asked Nariha to come with him. Nodding, Nariha got up and followed Syaoran over to another area of the lawn.

"Look I don't know what's up with you, but if this is about what I said last week I'm sorry. Alright?"

"Huh? Oh… no actually it has nothing to do with that. It was my fault. I really shouldn't have said those things. I'm over that. I just have some stuff on my mind that is stressing me out a bit," Nariha said giving a weak smile.

"You really don't look well. How much sleep have you been getting?" Syaoran asked, walking back to where Meiling was sitting.

"Sleep? Oh! I've been getting enough, nothing to worry about. Hehe," Nariha sweat-dropped.

"So are you two on talking terms again?" Meiling asked as the two sat back down at the table.

"We were never on non-speaking terms to begin with. Haha," Nariha laughed.

"But you weren't talking for pretty much the entire day. I thought I might have had something to do with the fight you and Syaoran had on Friday," Meiling began to explain.

"Nah. That was nothing. I was just stressing about other stuff and I kind of burst for a moment," Nariha said.

"What were you stressed about?" Meiling asked. Narhia went silent and looked down in her lap.

"Uh… well that's…," Nariha could feel both Meiling and Syaoran's eyes on her and was not in the mood to answer their question.

"Alright. Whatever. You don't have to answer." Even though Syaoran may act like a total jerk at times but he was very observant when it came to what others where thinking.

"Nah. It's alright, you guys are just worried about me. Thanks.... Actually my mother has come for a visit so I have to do everything I can to get her not to tell anyone where I am at the moment."

"Are you not supposed to be here? Nariha, you have to tell us these things!" Meiling started but was cut off by Nariha's laugh. It had been awhile since she had laughed and it was a nice sound.

"No! That's not it, I just don't want my sister to find me here!" Nariha said as her laughs died down.

"You never talk about your family. What are they like?" Meiling asked before she could stop herself. Syaoran seemed interested in this topic and perked up a little at the sound.

" Well, most of my family is great and I will love them forever... but my mother is another thing. She is a horrible frigid women who can't go through one real relationship. She cheated on my father before they were married apparently and when i was six he had finally had enough of it and filed for a divorce."

"Oh.... Well what about you sister? Do you have any other siblings?" Meiling continued, trying to get Nariha off the subject.

"Yeah, my family is really large actually. I have four older brothers and one older sister. Their names are Raiden, Hiro, Michio, Shigeo, and Gina. Two of my brothers are married and my sister was recently engaged. My sister and i lived together till i left awhile back and came here. I know she is worried about me but I know she will trust me to do what I have to."

"Where did you and your sister live?" Meiling asked. She was incredibly hooked to this topic. Nariha had never revealed this much information about herself at one time before so she might as well take advantage of the situation.

"We lived in a suburb of New York. It was still close enough to the city to be considered a more public lifestyle. Before that I lived in England so I have friends from all over." Nariha said.

"Nariha!"

"Shit!" Nariha said as she crawled under the table. There was a woman standing in the courtyard of the school looking around with daggers in her eyes. She noticed Nariha's bag and came over to the table where only Meiling and Syaoran could be visible.

"I have seen you two with my daughter. Do you know where she might be?" This women looked to be in her mid forties. She had dark brown hair that was cut at her shoulder blades. Her eyes where a piercing blue and stood out against the dark tan of her skin.

"She went to the library. If you go there now you maybe able to find her," Syaoran said coolly, looking the women straight in the eyes. It was obvious who this women was when she said "my daughter".

"Yes. Thank you. I will go there now," the women said and with that she turned around and briskly walked away, back straight, head held high. Once Nariha's mother was out of sight Nariha emerged from under the table.

"Thanks. I really don't want to have to deal with her right now," Nariha said. She took a water bottle out of her bag and took a long sip.

"Hey, can you tell us more about all the places you have been to. Please!!" Meiling asked once Nariha had finished.

"Nope. It is almost time for class anyway to I am going to go and try to find my mother and make her go back home till I get back." Nariha got up, put all of her stuff away and walked toward the same direction her mother had gone just moments before.

"Aww man! Things were starting to get good, too!" Meiling complained as she began to pack up her stuff. "Okay, Syaoran, let's go." Syaoran got up and followed Meiling. That day Nariha didn't come back after lunch. It wasn't till the next day that Meiling and Syaoran saw her again.

A/N Please Rate and Review!! Many Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own CardCaptor Sakura

Sorry it has been so long I forgot about having this chapter saved on my computer and high school has been really stressful. Well here it is. It is kinda long. I just really want to bring Syaoran back to Tomoeda so it is kind of just filler.

Chapter 6

"Nariha! Where were you yesterday! I was frantic!" Meiling continued on about how worried she had been about Nariha. Nariha on the other hand seemed completely out of it. She laid her head down on her desk and closed her eyes, till it brought back nightmares she had had the night before and opened her eyes once again, very wide, as if she was scared to blink.

"Hey… are you alright?" Meiling asked. Concern coated her words as they reached Nariha's ears.

"Yeah. Actually I am great today. My mother left last night. That is why I left school, she wanted me to see her off." Nariha said, stretching her arms over her head for a minute then scratched the back of her head.

"She didn't seem as bad as you made her sound, Nariha," Syaoran said. His desk was just in front of Nariha's, which made it easy to turn around and join the conversation.

"Ha! You just weren't with her for that long of a time. Besides, you must have seen the look in her eyes. They looked like needles." Nariha lifted her head off the desk and smiled. "Well, at least I have no more worries for the time being. All I need to focus on now is the trip to Japan!"

"Oh right! It is this weekend? Wow, you planned this thing really soon! Hey can you come over today and help me pack. I know it isn't for a few more days but I have to be prepared." Meiling asked. She now had stars in her eyes as she began to think about seeing her old friends again.

"Sure! Sounds great!" Nariha gushed. The thought of upcoming event lightened her mood a lot. The past few days had been horrid for her and today she felt completely rejuvenated. They were going to spend a few weeks in Tomoeda and see what exactly it was like there. Even Syaoran was somewhat looking forward to the visit. He was working towards the goal of regaining his memories. He knew this would please Nariha so he planned not to tell her. He didn't want her getting smug about this situation, that was the last thing anyone needed, was Nariha with a bloated ego.

The teacher walked through the door and the class immediately fell silent and Meiling went back to her seat. It was another day of droning form the teacher. Most of the stuff they discussed that day went right past Meiling and Nairha's heads. Syaoran was the only who could ever keep up with so much, much to Nariha's displeasure.

The day ended just like every other day. Yet, today Nariha went to Meiling's house after school. The two girls spent over two hours picking out special outfits for Meiling. After awhile the room became too stuffy and Nariha felt the need to get air. She went down the stairs of the large manner and through the back screen doors. She sat down on the cool stone patio and sighed. Something had caught her attention in Meiling's room through the window. It was a glint as if it was from a mirror or something shiny. Knowing it was wrong to snoop around she found herself sitting there hoping to figure out what it was from her current position. Sure enough, after a few moments she spotted a sweat-drenched Syaoran emerge from an area surrounded by trees. He noticed Nariha in an instant; it was also in that instant that he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. He tried to cover his embarrassment because Nariha seemed unaffected by his, and his amazing body's, presence. This irked him. No normal girl could even catch a glimpse of his body and not feel anything, and he was well aware of this. But then again everyone knew Nariha was different.

He walked over to where Nariha sat. She was now leaning back bracing herself against her hands. He sat down next to her and she looked over to acknowledge him that she knew he was there, and looked up at the sky. He sighed and laid down. The coolness of the stone was a shock against is hot back but he endured it and sure enough he got used to it soon after. Sitting there like that was rather boring and Syaoran had to admit that he was getting somewhat antsy. Yet, he felt like he couldn't just leave without saying anything.

As a few minutes went by he began to notice more and more the blank look in her eyes as she continued to look up at the sky. Nariha then sat up and got back up on her feet. Syaoran looked up at her. She took a few steps back to make sure he couldn't see up her skirt.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing really. Just laying here. Are you okay?" Syaoran said.

"Yeah. Where did you get the idea that I wasn't?" Nariha waited for an answer but Syaoran never replied. "Never mind. Well, what were you doing over there?" More questions. That seemed to be all of Nariha's and Syaoran's relationship; questions and answers, answers that would then spawn new questions, and the cycle continued.

Syaoran realized that Nariha was referring to the area back behind the trees where there was a training space that he often used to practice using his magic, but he couldn't tell Nariha that, she would think that he is delusional. "I was training."

Nariha seemed to be interested in this. "Really?"

"Yeah. I am a swordsman." Syaoran said, a smirk sneaking its way on to his face. Even though it sounded completely ridiculous Nariha believed him. She had no reason not to anyway.

"Oh wow! That's amazing! Can you do any of those awesome tricks like the ones they have in movies?" Nairha looked like a child as she said this. Her eyes were wide and Syaoran could see the spark of interest in them.

"Nah… Besides most of those are just special effects, you know that."

"Aww… I couldn't help myself—" "Nariha!" Meiling had just come out from the house behind the two teens. "There you are! Sorry for interrupting you guys' conversation but I need Nariha's help," Meiling then proceded to take Nariha by the hand and drag her away all the while Nariha looked stupefied saying "But- but …what.. Mei-meiling."

"Okay so what jacket should I wear on the plane?" Meiling asked. Nariha was now seated on the chair in front of Meiling's desk and was staring at Meiling with a dumfounded expression. Such a random question and yet it really seemed to make a big difference to Meiling.

"That one." Nariha pointed to the black one that had been tossed on the bed.

"That's not one of the choices, silly." Meiling said.

"Oh, well then, can I wear that one?" Nariha asked.

"Uh, sure… Well which jacket of the two of these do you like better?" Meiling said, pushing away the strange conversation from just a moment ago. Nariha got up, scooped the black jacket into her arms and the pointed to the jacket Meiling had ion her left hand. It was a gray jacket, with cuffs but no hood on top. Two zippers on it made it possible to have the bottom open and still zipped together.

"Okay, thanks!" Meiling said. She the continued to take the jacket and fold it over the chair Nariha had just been sitting in.

Nariha looked over at the clock on Meiling's dresser, which read 7:34. "Oh crap! It's already so late!" she said picking up the clock. "I'm going to go home now!" Nariha called. She had already packed her bag and was out the door, leaving Meiling a little bewildered.

"Uhh…. Okay."

~*~

Syaoran was in a grumpy mood the next day. Meiling was as excited as could be and had kept him up all night. The entire day she would go on and on about how great it will be to visit Tomoeda again. Nariha looked equally as happy, which was a change from her recent far-off attitude.

As packing was completed Syaoran had some time to think about the situation. Why did Nariha want to visit Tomoeda so much? Why was she so determined to get his memories back when it was so obvious to him that they would never return. He would try for the sake of those close to him though, and…. The girl he saw in his dreams. She had bright green eyes, a lot more vivid than Nariha's, brown hair that reached under her armpits (A/N I really don't know what length this would be). In his dreams she would stand there and smile, a few times she would say "I'm so glad your back Syaoran," and he felt something weird pulling in his chest every time he thought about it. This girl was amazing, everything about her was beautiful, he didn't know if he knew her or not, but truth be told he kind of wanted to. He had many dreams about this girl for a while now, but he would NEVER tell anyone that. Nariha would get a bigger ego and Meiling would be all over his case about who it was.

"SYAORAN I HOPE YOU ARE ALL PACKED WE ARE LEAVING TOMMOROW MORNING FOR CHRISTS SAKE!!" Meiling screeched as she ran around the house before she found her way to his room. "Oh! So… you are already. You should reply to me when I am calling for you."

"I didn't hear you _calling_ for me."

Meiling sighed and sat down on Syaoran's bed in the back corner of the room. "I am super psyched for this trip-" and on and on, as it continued. It was getting old to Syaoran.

That night passed by incredibly long. Meiling finally got bored of talking to Syaoran, who never responed much, his mind seemed to be elsewhere she noticed, so she went to talk on the phone with Nariha, who didn't seem in the mood to talk either.

Overall it was just a boring night in Hong Kong for the teens.

~*~

"Dammit Meiling! You just had to fall asleep at the perfect time. You don't sleep the entire night and then collapse a few minutes before we have to go! Do you have any idea how much of a heavy sleeper you are?" Complaints from Syaoran continued all the way to the airport where Wei and Syaoran's sisters said goodbye to them. Meiling began to argue back but found herself to tired to keep going.

The two found Nariha near the baggage check staring up at the incoming flights board. Just where she said she would be that night during her conversation with Meiling.

"S-Sorry for being late, Nariha," Meiling panted, rubbing her eyes. "It's all my fault that we are late."

"That's alright guys, really! Our plane apparently hasn't even arrived according to this." Nariha said acknowledging towards the board above them. It was true their flight hadn't even landed. They still had another hour to wait.

"Thank God! See Syaoran, nothing to worry about," Meiling said elbowing him in the stomach. At the same time her stomach growled from hunger.

"Ahh! Are you hungry? Come one, let's go find some place." Nariha said. She grabbed them both by the hand, with her purse dangling from her arm and dragged them over to one of the many restraunts in the airport. Meiling began shoveling food into her mouth as she got her food, while Syaoran sat and ate his food rather politely, chopsticks held perfectly in his right hand

"Man, I am tried of waiting! Do you guys understand how long I have wanted to go to Tomoeda? I am to excited to handle all of this!" Nariha complained. She was sitting across of the cousins, arms folded over her chest as she huffed.

"Why are you so excited? It's not like you know anyone there?" Syaoran questioned. Little was known about Nariha still even after they knew her for so long. This was bothersome to both Li's.

"It's always fun to visit new places," Nariha shrugged. "Besides I want to meet all of Meiling's friends. Will you tell me about them again?" Nariha asked as she leaned in over the table her chin was cupped in her hands, and her eyes were bight.

"Lef meh eart frisft," Meiling said with her mouth full. This was Pig language for "Let me eat first." Nariha laughed out loud at her friend's response.

After they had finished eating the three ventured off to go find their planes gate, which had thankfully landed. Syaoran stared out of the large window that was in front of him. Meiling was telling Nariha once again about her friends a few seats away, just as she had promised.

Finally the time came where they could get on the plane. Nariha held Meiling's hands, worried that she would ruin one of the chairs from excitement, Meiling was as happy as could be.

~*~

Sakura Kinomoto sat down on the grass with her friends. The browning grass crunched under her weight. She wasn't overweight, if anything she was _under_weight but the grass was just too weak.

She still had not returned completely back to normal after Syaoran left, but made an effort to be as happy as she could be for her friends. To be honest she was almost happy, she had great times with her friends and knew _they_ would always be there for her, but nothing could replace what Syaoran had taken.

"I was hoping you guys would come with me to the mall tomorrow. It is the only day off this week and I want to do something fun!" Chiharu stated as she sat down next to Sakura.

"Hoe! I want to!" Sakura practically yelled, causing everyone else around them to laugh, thus making Sakura blush in embarrassment.

"Well, I think it sounds great!' Tomoyo continued, after the laughter had died down a bit. "Plus maybe I can get a few ideas for your dresses for the Winter Ball."

"Tomoyo-chan, that isn't for months! Besides, you are always fussing over everyones dresses then, why bother now?" Naoko said.

"It never hurts to get and early start," Tomoyo defended herself.

"Tomoyo-chan makes the best dresses anyway. I'm sure you all want to look great for the ball when it comes to that time," Rika stated.

"You know that the word dress was created when an English man saw his wife in a dress that he thought was a tubular chest-coving skirt--" Takashi began to gag as Chiharu strangled him about ready to break his neck.

Sakura laughed at her friends actions and tried to keep positive thoughts for those close to her.

~*~

"Wahoo! Tomoeda, I'm back!" Meiling yelled her bags in each hand, which were high in the air, as she walked out of the airport. It was a long flight after getting on two planes to reach their destination. Meiling noticed people staring at her and blushed. Nariha and Syaoran stood a good few meters back, sweatdropping. Syaoran was carrying almost all of their bags, almost crushed under the weight. Nariha offered to take a few bags to add on to the ones she was already carrying, and he gratefully let her.

"So I was thinking I will show you around tomorrow and calling my friends then," They all sat inside a rather tiny taxi as Meiling went through her entire plan of the next few days to the other two teens. Meiling's bubbly personality always kept the others somewhat upbeat. Syaoran and Nariha sat there and stared all the while. Nariha's smile grew bigger and bigger until she just finally laughed. Meiling and Syaoran stared at her because of her strange actions.

"I'm just glad to be here is all," Nariha replied when she noticed her friends strange looks. "Hey, Li-kun, make sure you tell me if you have any weird memory flashes okay?"

"Uhh, yeah sure." Syaoran said. Retrieval of his memories was now a priority for him.

Yahoo! Haha finally done it has been so long 5 pages _. I will be working all of Thanksgiving Break to get a new chapter out.


	7. Chapter 7

So so so so sorry I thought I would have more time over break to do this but I had to do a project and only had about 10 minutes each night to do this, and finals have stressed me out this semester. I will do my best to get out more chapters over winter break since I seem to never have anything planned. Please forgive me T_T

Chapter 7

"Hoe! You guys said you wanted to go shopping but you haven't bought anything!" Sakura was frustrated as she left the group left yet another store empty handed.

"Well, coming here is helping me to get new ideas for clothes I can design later, dear Sakura-chan," Tomoyo stated.

"Yeah, what's the point in getting clothes now when Tomoyo-chan will make even better stuff later," Naoko agreed. She was shortly cut off when Chiharu dragged her and Takashi over off towards a near by store. Rika, Tomoyo, and Sakura where left standing there rather confused but quickly ran after the other three.

The store was much larger than it appeared to be outside. It would be forever till they left and even then her friends would still not have bought anything Sakura was thinking bitterly. Sakura went over to one of the closest racks and pretended to be looking at the many flowing layer shirts that the store had to offer. Tomoyo was looking around the store when she noticed something strange. It took her a while to recognize it but once she did it was like a slap in the face. "Meiling!"

The girl in pigtails flipped around to face her. "Tomoyo?!" She ran up to the violet haired girl and hugged her. "I was going to call all of you tonight to let you know we were in Tomoeda. This is great!"

"We?" Tomoyo questioned. _Did Meiling bring anyone with her?_ she thought. "Oh yeah, Syaoran and my friend, Nariha is here with me. She's over there, the one with the red hair tied in the ruby ribbon. Yes, her." Meiling said as Tomoyo questioned her. "Hey, Nariha, over here!" Meiling called towards the redheaded girl. She immediately turned around at the mention of her name and walked over to Meiling.

"What's up?" the girl asked. "This is one of my friends Tomoyo. I know I told you about her at sometime…." "Ahh! Really, you're Daidoji Tomoyo-san? Mei-chan had told me so much about you!" Nariha said exuberantly, using her nickname for Meiling. By now the other girls had realized what was going on and had come over to see what all the commotion was about.

"Meiling! Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?!" Chiharu shrieked. There was more hugging and talking. Sakura, who was in the dressing room when Tomoyo noticed Meiling, came out and walked over to the group. Being completely oblivious to Meiling's presence, she turned to Tomoyo and said, "Are you really just going to stand there talking the entire day."

"Sakura-chan! Can't you see Meiling is here! How can you be so clueless! Look around!" Tomoyo said. Sakura turned around to face Meiling's bright ruby eyes and blinked, till it finally registered in her head.

"Oh my God! Meiling, it is so good to see you!" Sakura squealed as she too hugged Meiling.

"Haha, clueless as ever I see Sakura-chan!" Meiling said.

"So are you here alone or…," Sakura began.

"Oh no! I came here with my friend and Syaoran. Hey Nariha, come here and meet one more friend," Meiling went on to say. The red haired girl came over to Meiling's side and stuck out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Yamashita Nariha. Uhh… you are?" Nariha's cheeks began to turn pink as she had to ask for Sakura's name.

"Kinomoto Sakura," Sakura took Nariha's hand and shook it lightly.

"Aye. So you're the Sakura that Meiling was harassing Li-kun about…. Li-kun? Oh now where is that boy?" Nariha huffed and placed her hands on her hips, she looked around before she spotted Syaoran from behind a few racks of clothes. "Uhh… Excuse me for one second, Kinomoto-san. I will be right back," Nariha said as she ran over to where Syaoran was standing. She didn't wait for him to respond, as she took his wrist in her hand and dragged him over to where all of the other girls were hanging out. He tried to protest but was only answered by Nariha's laugh. "So…," she said rather expectantly, as she put Syaoran almost directly in front of Sakura. Sakura, who wasn't expecting to see Syaoran so soon, became as stiff as a board.

"So, what?" Syaoran questioned turning away from Sakura to face Nariha. Sakura relaxed a little, as his intense gaze was no longer on her and rather on someone else.

"Really? You can't remember her? This is the girl Meiling was always making fun of you with…," Sakura felt herself blush a bit at the thought that she was the topic that was used to harass Syaoran with. He slowly shook his head and Sakura felt her heart drop. "O-oh. Seriously! You're not messing with me right?!" Nariha continued to say.

"Why would I lie about something so stupid like this?!" Syraoran said. He was beginning to lean towards Nariha.

_Stupid?_ That hit Sakura really hard, like her entire heart had stopped beating.

"She is right here, you idiot! How could you say something so cold! You jerk!" the red haired girl shrieked before she promptly stomped on his toe and stormed away leaving Syaoran clutching his toe with one hand and another wrapped around a pole from a clothes rack.

"Charming girlfriend, Syaoran," Chiharu said, not bothering to hide her laughter.

"What?!" Nariha and Syaoran yelled in unison. Even though Nariha had tried to get away from Syaoran as much as possible she couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation that was currently occurring. Nariha then began to laugh a bit to loud and had to rely on Meiling to hold her up in the middle of her hysterics. Syaoran glared daggers at the girl from behind a few racks of clothes. "Nariha is not like that to me and why should you care" Syaoran continued to grumble.

"Oh… right well I'm Mihara Chiharu. We were friends when you lived in Tomoeda," Chiharu went on as she remembered the note she read from Tomoyo so long ago about Syaoran's memory loss. All the others soon followed Chiharu's model and introduced themselves to the _new_ Syaoran. Takashi and Syaoran really seemed to get along well together and Tomoyo was being bombarded with questions about the clothes she made by Nariha, leaving Sakura, Meiling, Naoko, and Rika feel a bit out of place. Chiharu was clinging on to Takashi's arm so she was stuck in the middle of whatever the boys were talking about. Not wanting to rude by leaving, which would be hard to go unnoticed, she was left feeling even more out of place than any of the other girls.

"So… Sakura-chan how have things been here lately?" Meiling asked in hopes of getting rid of the awkward feeling she was experiencing in her chest.

"Quiet. You guys coming is probably the biggest thing to happen in Tomoeda in a long time," Sakura turned to give a sweet smile to Meiling. Something about seemed too sugar-coated though. It reminded her of the smiles Nariha gave when she looked like she was trying to hard to be happy. Meiling finally came to the conclusion that Sakura had a lot on her mind at the moment.

"What are you thinking about?" Meiling asked curiously, hoping Sakura would be more open to her.

"Nothing much. It's really great that you came for a visit and your friends seem to be quite nice." Meiling didn't miss the word friends. "C-come on, Sakura-chan. Syaoran is still your friend," Meiling said, trying to keep Syaoran as much of a good person as possible. "Besides once you get to know Nariha-chan you will see the she is a really great person, just really short-tempered is all."

"Nariha? Hoe! You mean Syaoran's girlfriend?" Sakura said. She had been trying to figure out who Nariha was ever since she was brought up a moment before. Clearly someone was off in Lala-land.

"G-girlfriend? Oh no no no. Nariha isn't like that to Syaoran as far as I'm concerned. Besides I think she told me she has a boyfriend of her own, of course that was a long time ago so I really can't remember," Meiling continued before the thought could get molded into Sakura's head. It almost came as a relief to Sakura. The Syaoran didn't have anyone like that at the moment, and what was better, the Narohi-girl didn't seem to be a problem.

Meanwhile Syaoran was trying to figure out why the girl Meiling was talking to looked to damn familiar. Had her seen her before somewhere? Immpossible. It was his first time in Tomoeda… right?

A/N: okay well that is it for now… can anyone say why Sakura looks so familiar using story references?? Thanks for reading!! I will try to get a new chapter out faster next time.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It had only been a few hours since Meiling had eaten and yet she had found herself hungry yet again, and so that was how the large group found themselves inside a rather small side café. Looking around it was a sweet and cozy restaurant. Flowers set in perfect arrangements sat on each table.

Food had just arrived and Meiling and Takashi began to stuff their faces with the delicious goods. The others stared at them in awe, wondering how they could shove so much food down their throats without choking. "Sakura-chan, Nariha-chan, make sure you guys eat too," Meiling said when she had finally cleared her mouth.

"Huh?" both Sakura and Nariha said, a bit startled. Both of the girls had been staring at their hands, which were laying in their laps. Their positons were eerily too similar.

"Seriously, Nariha, what's up with you lately. You're acting werid," Syaoran said.

That was it for Nariha. "Oh, shut up." She took a bite from whatever it was that she was eating. She couldn't remember what she had ordered in the first place. "Happy now?" she asked Meiling and Syaoran.

"Yep," Meiling answered simply. She too, began to take another large bite of her food.

"So how long are you guys staying?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh, a few weeks. You know how school is though so we can't stay for too long," Meiling continued. "I mean it's not like we can just transfer here, as much as I wish we could."

"You never know, Mei-chan," Nariha called out, a glitter in her eye. "It would be so nice for you guys to stay here, though," Rika said. "Yeah…," Meiling sighed, thoughts of life in Tomoeda again swirling through her mind. She finished her food quickly and came to the realization she had to pee. Grabbing Nariha by the arm she dragged her to the bathroom, interrupting Nariha's conversation with Tomoyo about the differences in stocking material.

"Really, Meiling? What the hell?" Nariha said.

"What do you have planned here, Nari-chan," Meiling asked. She knew Nariha had something planned, she had known since the idea first came up of a visit to Tomoeda, now with the transferring crap, Meiling had to know. "I have no idea what you are talking about," Nariha replied. "Oh right, this visit was itself was totally random, and now you are going on about staying here, I just don't get it. Are you planning on leaving Hong Kong?" Meiling continued. "Not without you my dear Mei-chan." Nariha said happily. "Now hurry up and use the bathroom, I don't want to return alone."

_That wasn't helpful at all_, Meiling thought with scorn. Sure, they were friends but the secrets that were kept from each other was a bit annoying. Of course Meiling had her own secrets, everyone did. They returned to the table and acted as if the conversation in the bathroom had never happened.

After finishing their meals the group walked over to King Penguin Park to enjoy the time that was left in the day and the company of old and new friends. Nariha was hitting it off well with everyone, well except one girl who hadn't yet warmed up to her, name starting with an S. It wasn't that Sakura didn't like Nariha, she really didn't know why she didn't quite like Nariha.

"Well, it's been great seeing you guys again. We should make plans for tomorrow after you classes, alright. I think Nari-chan is getting tired," Meiling said, nodding her head over to where Nariha sat dozing off on Tomoyo's sholder. Syaoran got up to help Nariha to her feet, she was still half asleep. She really needed to start getting more sleep, Syaoran made sure to note.

"Oh, yeah. That sounds awesome. We can call you after our classes end," Naoko said. They all said their good-byes, Meiling, Syaoran, with Nariha in tow, went back to their old apartment, Chiharu walked home, dragging Takashi with her, Rika and Naoko headed back to their homes as well, leaving Tomoyo and Sakura to go back home together. Well, it was more really Tomoyo taking Sakura home with her driver.

.oOo.

So much for never seeing him again. Needless to say Sakura was upset. She had every right to be. That jerk came back to Tomoeda claiming he never knew anyone from here. Then he goes and says all of the things he can't remember were stupid. Syaoran was going to pay for this. Then Nariha, who seemed to be nice enough, but was always a Syaoran's side. Asking if he could remember anything, sure it was an innocent enough but what did she really want with Syaoran.

"Sakura-chan!" Kero squealed. It was hard to believe that he was a great gardian when he was in the form of a stuffed animal. "What's for dinner today? I missed lunch today because I've been playing video games all day, so I'm starving." Kero went on to complain about his horribly growling stomach.

"Well why didn't you get anything for yourself," Sakura said, she tried to smile a bit. "You make better food than anyone so I figured I would wait, it's worth it in the long run. You know better off filling my belly with good food," Kero replied. Sakura smirked at what Kero said, she began to feel her pride that was lost earlier today returning. She grabbed a box of noodles off the shelf and into a pot of water.

.oOo.

That night both Sakura and Syaoran had the same dream. Of course they didn't realize this fact so it remained secret.

Standing on a building was a man. His long dark hair was swept behind him in a gust of wind. He was wearing long robes of a dark metallic purple color. He was watching a rather large group of people as they walked across the street. His eyes locked on a few particular individuals: Sakura, Syaoran, and the red hair girl that Sakura never bothered to remember her name. The man laughed and muttered something along the lines of _You really thought you could hide from me?_ He turned around his robes flying behind him wildly and jumped off a building landing on the roof of a house a mad grin spreading across his face.

.oOo.

The dream was rather startling to Syaoran. How could it not be? Some strange man was watching him and the girl he met today. And how did Nariha play a part in all of this? Why was she being watched as well?

He wanted to confront her but he knew that he would just be met with a confusing reply. Why did that girl have to be so damn impossible to understand? He got out of his bed quickly and walked out into the main room of the apartment. He saw Nariha half asleep her head resting against the arm of the sofa she was currently laying on. She looked like she didn't get any sleep. He sat down on the chair near her, cringing when the chair squeaked loudly under his weight. Nariha awoke with a start jolting upright suddenly. "What?!" she said dozily. "Oh, Li, it's you. God don't scare me like that."  
"Right. Well, you look like you had a horrible night. How late were you up? Why weren't you sleeping in Meiling's room? What have you been doing so late at night?" Syaoran questioned.

"Why do you have so many questions?" Nariha mutter sarcastically. "Do I have any reason to tell you?" she went on to say. At the same time Meiling came out of the room and gave a loud yawn.

"What are you two doing?" Great more questions. Nariha jumped in surprise. She was not aware of Meiling's presence until she had spoken. "Just talking. Did you have a good sleep?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes. I was a bit freaked out when I woke up and you weren't on the other bed though Nariha-chan," Meiling said, a smile was growing on her face. "So I came out here to make sure you didn't leave."

"So are we going to see your friends again today Meiling-chan?" Nariha asked, very interested. "Well hopefully, but they have classes, so we will have to wait for a while, but there is plenty of stuff we can do in the meantime," Meiling said.

"Sounds cool. I would really like to talk to Yamazaki again," Syaoran said. This was a bit of a surprise to the two girls listening to him. It was strange enough that Syaoran wanted to be social with someone else other than Meiling and Nariha. That phrase being a man of action not of words seemed to fit him pretty well. _Maybe some of Sakura's touch still exists, even if he can't remember,_ Meiling thought happily to herself.

.oOo.

"Oh my GOD, I never thought that classes would end," Naoko said as she ran out of the school, holding Sakura by the wrist, dragging her around on the ground, since she found it impossible to get her footing, moving as fast as she was. "We should go find Meiling-chan and Syaoran-kun."

"Well, you know I was just thinking I would go home after school today. I- I got a bunch of homework I need to do so I think I'll just—"

"But Sakura-chan, you can't leave us. We will just come find you later, you know," Chiharu pleaded, she had to run to catch up with Naoko so she was a bit out of breath. Takashi, Tomoyo, and Rika followed closely behind her.

"Umm, I called Meiling and she said they would come here to find us if you guys didn't want to change first," Rika said, that girl really needed to start talking louder, it seemed that only Tomoyo could hear the shy girl through all the chaos of noisiness.

"I think we will be fine. We won't be out too late anyway," Tomoyo nodded to Rika, to acknowledge she heard what the other girl had said. "Please Sakura-chan, you must come with us. It will be fun, I promise."

Sakura hesitated a moment before she replied with a reluctant, "A-alright."

"Yay! Sakura-chan is coming!" said a voice from outside the school gates. Everyone looked to see who it was and wasn't surprised to see Meiling leaning on the school wall with Nariha and Syaoran on either side of her.

"Mei-meiling-chan! When did you get here?" Sakura asked, as the others stood baffled by Meiling and her companion's sudden presence.

"Oh dear. We have been here for a while now, waiting for one of you to notice us," Meiling dragged Nariha by the wrist, over to where her friends were. She looked too much like Naoko in Sakura's mind as she remembered the girl had dragged her out of the school minutes ago. Syaoran followed quickly behind. The more Sakura looked at him the more she realized how much he had changed since she had seen him last, so many months ago. It really had been a long time ago. The thought of the entire event made her angry. Maybe if she had been told in any other way that Syaoran was going back to Hong Kong she wouldn't be as upset.

The group made plans to visit the Amusement Park the next day, and Sakura was sworn into go, no sneaking out of it now. They all knew they wouldn't have much time but why did it matter, spending time with friends was all that mattered.

.oOo.

"It has been so long since I have been here!" Meiling cheered. She ran around the park going on ride after ride. Really these girls were clingy now. Meiling had clasped her arm around both Sakura and Nariha's own arms and were currently being dragged. Those poor girls were going to become spaghetti from getting dragged on the ground.

Then Meiling's hunger just had to ruin the moment. "You guys can go eat. I'm not all that hungry. I think I will just go into the… funhouse," Nariha looked around to find a place to go off to. Apparently, she needed to get some air, but would she really find it trapped in a stuffy room full of mirrors?

"Huh? Oh, okay. I will call you when we're done then…" Meiling said, she knew Nariha was more than capable of taking care of herself but something was off about her friend since she woke up that morning.

Nariha had been found asleep on the couch again this morning, wearing a big coat that suggested she had went outside that night. Even now after she had changed and been up for quite a few hours she still wore a rather large black coat. It seemed a bit too big her and had more of a boy's fit. Meiling had trouble figuring out where she could have got this jacket, she had never seen it before, of course there was always the possibility that Nariha kept the jacket with a bunch of her other stuff that wasn't seen before. She had once been in Nariha's apartment, it was nice sure but the only part of the room that seemed to be used was the kitchen. Even the television looked like it hadn't been used in quite a while.

"So Li, how are things in Hong Kong. I heard you have a huge family," Takashi began.

"Yeah, four sisters, can you imagine?" Syaoran replied, he smiled at the thought of his family back home. Sure, they were a bit annoying, but they were concerned for their little brother.

"And what about your friend, Nariha, does she have any family?" Chiharu asked.

"Yeah she has four brothers and one sister, even more siblings than me!" Syaoran said, he laughed at the idea that there were people that had a bigger family than him. As he went on describing the information that Nariha had given about her family, it became known that Syaoran knew a lot about the red haired girl. "So what about you, Sakura, you never talk much, what's your family like?" Syaoran asked.

"What? Oh… well I have one brother… and my dad…" Sakura said, why was she hesitating so much?!

"That's cool, and what about your mom?" Syaoran truly seemed sincere. He had recognized the girl from his dream, and wanted to know her better.

"She- she died when I was young…" Sakura stated looking down into her lap.

"Oh… well—" Syaoran began. He was cut off by Sakura, who had suddenly stood up, looking at her feet, and said, "Sorry, I need to go", cut him off! She bolted away from the table and as fast as she could ran around the corner. She looked around to see where she was and headed into the funhouse. Maybe she would be able to clear her head in there. Sakura slowed her pace to walk and tried to concentrate on anything but Syaoran. Of course as she tried to forget the boy stuck in her mind she didn't pay attention to where she was headed.

_Thud!_

Sakura found herself fall back from the force. She had her eyes closed and her head hurt from knocking heads with who ever she had ran into. "Oh! Kinomoto-san! I am so sorry!" Sakura opened her eyes to see a girl with dark red hair and dull green eyes getting up back to her feet and offer a hand to Sakura, to help her back up. Sakura accepted somewhat reluctantly and mumbled her thanks to Nariha. "What are you doing here? Are Mei-chan and the others done eating?" Sakura shook her head and Nariha's sholders seemed to relax a bit. "Alright. Well, maybe you paid attention to how you got in here. I'm kinda lost…" Nariha admitted, she looked embarrassed, though Sakura wasn't paying attention to anything the other girl was saying. "Uh… alright."

"Huh? What?" Sakura was a little bewildered.

"Haha, I guess you weren't paying much attention either. Maybe we can team up and try to find our way out of here?" it sounded more like a question than a suggestion.

"Y-yeah. That sounds fine…" Sakura said. She began to walk ahead of Nariha, who had to quick-walk to keep up with her.

It was a bit awkward, no one seemed to know what to say so the two continued into dead-end after dead-end, in complete silence, at least till Nariha decided to speak up. "You don't like me very much do you, Kinomoto-san?"

"Wha- oh no, that's not it. Really," Sakura heard herself say. She knew that her voice didn't sound very convincing and she saw Nariha's shoulders sag during the reply. "I'm promise. It's not that I don't like you, but I just don't know you very well."

"So… There is a chance that we can be friends?" Nariha asked hopeful.

"Yeah, of course," Sakura could see Nariha's smile grow from the corner of her eye and the reflection of the mirror. It got quite in the hall of mirrors again. And once again Nariha had to break the moment of quietness.

"So Meiling-chan told me that you knew Li-kun when you two were young. What was he like?" Nariha asked.

"I would think that you would know him better than I did. I mean you are his girlfriend after all," Sakura said.

"L-Li? No, I _do not_ like him like that. Oh! Ow, geez…" Nariha said. Sakura turned around to see Nariha on the ground, her hand was wrapped around one of her ankles. She assumed that she had tripped or fallen on something.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sakura kneeled down to help Nariha back on her feet. After Nariha had her balance she said 'thanks' and tried to take a few steps only to fall back down. "What could you have tripped on to twist your ankle this bad," Sakura laughed. "Here if you lean on me then you will be able to walk better…. Okay..." She lifted Nariha up and placed her arm around her shoulder then began to walk. Nariha limped a bit but after awhile she found her footing and tried walking on her own.

Suddenly Nariha stopped her nearly blood colored hair flew infront of her as she came to an abrupt halt. "What is it, Yamashika-san?" Sakura had taken the time to remember her name now. Nariha didn't respond, but her eyes had changed happy and girly to alert and stealthy. She was glaring at one of the mirror as if trying to see something through all of the many reflections.

"Come on. I think we can get out this way," Nariha gripped Sakura's wrist and pulled her through the hall. They ran for a few moment's till they found themselves outside once again. Something was different when they came out of the funhouse. The sky was dark, looked like there was going to be a storm. "Dammit," Nariha muttered.

"Looks like it is going to rain. We should go find Meiling-chan and the others," Sakura stated. Though she felt more comfortable around Nariha now she knew she would be able to feel better with a more friends around her.

Nariha continued to not talk and it made Sakura feel a bit uneasy. Then the sky became one of the cheesy movie moments as the clouds swirled together into a whirlpool in the sky. Sakura swore that she could here laughing as a man in long purple robes dropped through the hole. "Stop messing with me! I know it's not really you and your little puppets really piss me off!" Sakura heard Nariha yell towards the man. She turned to look at the girl next to her, and as soon as her eyes landed on Nariha the girl took off. Nariha sprinted to the man and threw her fist into the man's jaw. He backed up a few steps from the force. It was hard to believe that a girl like Nariha could exert the force that she did.

"Haha. I see your freezing fist is a cold as ever, dear Nariha," The man lowered his hand to reveal the shape of a hand on his face coated in ice. Sakura stared at Nariha, confused as ever at the situation currently occurring. "If I'm not mistaken your magic has seemed to have gotten stronger. Must be because you haven't used them in such a long time," The man continued to sneer. "You may look intimidating on the outside but I can see you are a wreck on the inside. You are still worrying about him, aren't you?"

Nariha eyes widened and she shouted back, "Of course I am! You took him! I have every right to be worried about him! Give him back!" She once again charged towards the man. Sakura could hear footsteps coming closer to where she was standing; they were coming at a rapid pace. She turned around to see Syaoran and Meiling running over and stop suddenly as they saw their friend fighting with a strange man.

Meiling turned towards Sakura and said, "We sensed a presence and came over as soon as we could. Do you have your cards?"

"No! Are you saying that man is a bad spirit or something?" Sakura said.

"I don't know… but if I am going to get any answers out of Nariha I'm going to help her!" Syaoran said. He pressed his hands together and fire began to erupt from the gap between them as he spread out his hands his famous sword appeared. It was a very impressive performance but no one had time to take his show into account. He ran up to where Nariha was standing. She turned to him and her eyes widened in shock as she saw him go over to the man and slash it around it's stomach. Sakura and Meiling heard more footsteps and soon enough Tomoyo had appeared with her video camera in hand.

"I told the others that I was going to find you guys and that they should go into a store incase it rains," Tomoyo huffed. She began to film Syaoran and Nariha as they tried to get rid of the man in front of them. She squealed and muttered something about Syaoran being as good as ever with a sword.

But only a few minutes after the fight had began the man disappeared and all that was left was an action figure with a piece of paper covered in marking tied to it. Nariha scoffed and picked up the doll. She ripped of the paper and threw it into a fire pit that had not been there moments before. Then a voice over came the area. "Dear Nariha, I can see how sad you are. I can take you to him, the boy that you miss so much. If you would like that is."

"Ye-yeah right! As if, you would just kill me so that you wouldn't have to worry anymore," Nariha shrieked, she winced when her voice crack. She seemed on the verge of tears.

"Oh well, such a waste. I will be back soon, as you well know," The voice began to fade till it just disappeared.

The sky grew darker and it began to rain. Nariha's knees started to shake and she looked as if she was about to fall over at any moment. Sakura ran up to her to hold her up when Nariha's legs finally gave away and she collapsed. She looked into her new friends face and she saw tears streaming down her face. Nariha threw her head into her hands and began to sob. Sakura tried to sooth her since she felt like she didn't do much before to help the girl. Once her tears had stopped falling Meiling came over kneeled down by the two, Syaoran and Tomoyo soon followed. "Nariha, you need to explain some stuff to us. Why don't we start with who was that man, who was this 'him' you were talking about and what the _hell_ is going on…?"

.oOo.

Oooh serious ending. It may take a while to get the next chapter out I just wanted to do this part before my classes start up again. Dammit I hate high school!!

Anyway let me know what you guys think please!! And thanks for all the people who have read my story so far it really means a lot.

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9 The Story Begins

I haven't been writing for a while and I am sorry but that is how it is with me…*sigh* I really have to work on my work-ethic…. Anyway, here it is!

Chapter 9: The Story Begins

It took Nariha a good few minutes to calm down enough to stand up and even then she still had to rely on Meiling for support. Tomoyo said goodbye to Chiharu, Takashi, Rika, and Naoko who didn't say anything about Nariha's actions at the moment but decided it would be better for later.

Sakura, who still didn't know what to do, was walking behind the group with Syaoran a few steps in front of her. Syaoran hadn't said a word since Nariha's breakdown and appeared at a loss for comforting words (although he was never good with comforting others in the first place). He looked like he was thinking hard. This was of course reasonable because he knew Nariha was keeping secrets from him.

Meiling continued to walk with Nariha, who had calmed down enough to walk on her own, yet she still held onto Meiling's arm, although she was still sniffling Sakura couldn't see if her tears had stopped.. Tomoyo walked next to Meiling but she too did not say a word.

Finally, Nariha murmured something to Meiling, who nodded and walked over to a bench. She and Nariha sat down on it and Sakura could once again get a good look at the girl's face. Although her eyes were red and puffy Nariha had still managed to look beautiful in her distraught state. Tears had begun to stream down her face once again but she wiped them off and tried to get a hold of herself. Then she said in a shaky voice, "What do you want to know?"

"Why don't we start with the cloaked guy." Syaoran said. His voice was a little strained but other than that he seemed to be doing a right.

Nariha sighed and then began, "His name is Diaso. He used to be a world history teacher at my old school in New York…." She paused to look up at Sakura. This surprised Sakura a bit but she just nodded as a silent signal for Nariha to continue. "He was a teacher for as long as I had lived in New York with my sister. It was around that time that Diaso showed himself and began to fight me. If I had noticed he was a teacher sooner then none of this would be happening, I was just to blind to notice anything."

"But to be honest that really isn't where I should begin…. Have any of you heard the love story of Li Fan Ao and Akane Michiko?"

Syaoran and Meiling nodded. It was of course nessecary for them to know about their family's history so they knew the tragic story well. Sakura and Tomoyo shook their heads. Nariha then asked Meiling and Syaoran to tell the other two the story.

"Well, it all began when the Li family and Akane family began feuding. No one is really sure what it was about, but—" Meiling was cut off by Syaoran who had apparently gotten impatient.

"Anyway, Fan Ao and Michiko met on night and immediately fell in love. In order to stop the fights between their family's they got married and everything in the area was at peace again—"

Meiling who was upset for being cut off, cut off Syaoran and continued, "Of course there was always the problem that the families were so far away from each others, which caused problems for the lovers. But I am losing my point…"

"One night an Oracle from the Akane clan told a prophecy about six families with powers unbelievable to regular mortal people. The Oracle told of one person from each of these families would be able to join up together with the others and help get rid of a suspicious dark force that was beginning to make its way across the world, reeking havoc wherever it went. These people were called points, as in the tips of a six-pointed star. Fan Ao and Michiko figured that they themselves were two of the points because of their great power. They then combined with the other points and tried to defeat the evil spirit. They tried for many years and were still unsuccessful."

"After so many years Fan Ao and Michiko had two children named Hikari and Uchiru. It was shortly after that that Fan Ao and Michiko went for one more attempt to destroy the dark force but ended up being brutally destroyed. It is said that the burden of destroying the evil spirit was passed down to the next generation… but it was killed or purified or whatever nearly 100 years ago. So I can't see how this means anything…." Meiling finished.

Nariha laughed but it sounded off, like she was close to losing it at any moment. Sakura sat down next to her, finally understanding the situation. "So… that evil presence came back, and now it is up to the points to truly destroy him?" Nariha looked at Sakura surprised.

"Yeah. The points from generations before never really killed Daiso so now it is up to the new points to get rid of him…."

"Well, do you know who the points are?" Sakura asked. Meiling, Syaoran, and Tomoyo stared at to two girls in shock that they seemed to understand the situation so well when it was still a blur to the rest of them.

"Well I am only sure of four of the points…. There is one from the Kinomoto family, Li family, Yamashita family, and the Miltin family, who around 300 years ago was the Kazezawa family. Asuming that no one else in your family has showed signs of possessing magic it leaves me to think that you are one of the points Cardcaptor Sakura-san. But I don't know if Meiling has any magic because we have never really talked about things like that…."

"I don't. Only Syaoran has magic as far as I'm concerned. That means that he must be your other point! But who is the Miltin person?" Meiling questioned. It didn't sound like anyone from Japan but… Meiling wasn't really sure.

Nariha began to sniffle again which made Meiling take a jump back in surprise." I'm sorry Nariha-chan! I didn't mean anything by it I swear! I was just thinking out loud…."

Tears were beginning to form around Nariha's eyes and they were dangerously close to spilling over. "It's okay Meiling-chan. Things have been hard for me lately, after he was taken. Griffin, I mean. That's the Miltin person you don't know. You see when Griffin was taken I was in a phase of shock for a few weeks…. I didn't do anything but cry just about every night… but I knew that I had to do something and I knew that the Li family must be one of the points because they were before so I came to Hong Kong to find you…." She looked at Syaoran to prove her point. It might as well been in vain. Griffin has probably been killed by Daiso by now… but I refuse to give up until someone proves me wrong!" Nariha looked a bit more upbeat as she began to speak of her plans to save the boy that no one but her knew.

"Griffin… Meiling said that you had a boyfriend. Is Griffin him?" Sakura asked. She was still sitting next to Nariha and she grabbed her hand for support.

"Haha… yeah. Griffin was the only one who I could say really knew me." A smile played on Nariha's lips as she reminisced about the times she was with her boyfriend. She realized that the rest of them were still watching her and she turned scarlet. She wiped the remainder of the tears that had fallen earlier off and then looked up to face Syaoran and then she turned to Sakura and asked, "Will you help me Kinomoto-san?"

Sakura looked up at Syaoran who nodded like it was obvious. After noticing that Sakura looked like the girl from his dream he wanted to help out and if Sakura was there then that would make things easier right? I mean she knew him from somewhere right?

"Since you know so much about everything Nariha-san, maybe you know something about Syaoran's lost memories," Sakura could not cover the bit of hope that was in her voice but she did not want to be disappointed so she braced herself for the worst.

"Well, I have been taught quite a bit about memory removal by my grandfather and he said that memories cannot simply disappear but they must be placed into a magic enhanced container. Assuming that Daiso took Li-kun's memories then he would have to keep the container on him at all times or else his memories would return themselves to him. Even so Li-kun's memories are always calling to him so finding them may be easier or harder than we think."

Someone gasped and Sakura and Nariha turned to see Tomoyo with her hands over her mouth although it was ruined because she had her camera in her other hand.

_When did she get out her camera? _Sakura asked in her head.

"Li-kun said that something was telling him to go the area where Diaso was today! Do you think it may have been his memories in Diaso's possession!?" Tomoyo asked. There was a sudden urgency in her voice. She had moved her hands from her mouth and they were now back focused on Sakura and Nariha. She wanted to give Sakura hope that something could be done.

"Most likely. Syaoran proably reacted to his memories being so close by. All we need to do is find out what Daiso is using as a container to hold Li-kun's memories and that will solve that problem…."

"Don't worry, Nariha-san, we will help you! I promise!" Sakura beamed at Nairha.

Syaoran put his hand on Nairha's shoulder and said the same thing. Nariha looked at the two greatfully, she sighed and said, "Thank you so much you guys! I promise to tell you more after we move here, okay?"

Meiling, Syaoran, Sakura, and Tomoyo all stared at her. After awhile the all asked in unision, "Huh!?" or in Sakura's case "Hoe!?"


End file.
